What is it about?
Israel has two large populations, Hassidic Jews and Arab-Israeli's, that do not have the education or the religion that enables them be employed. The Hassidic Jews are the descendants of Eastern European Jews sent to the Holy Land to study the Torah. Mostly Eastern Jews paid for their housing, schooling and living expenses. After the Holocaust, Eastern Jews were scattered, killed or faced hardship themselves. When Israel became a country, they accepted the support of these Ultra-Orthodox Jews who knew the holy books but did not expect to serve in the army or work in the marketplace. If any one in the family worked, it was the wives who were only educated to eighth grade and had an average of 5 children. Due to their large families, these Jews make up a large portion of the Israeli population. The second population, Arab Israeli's, are educated in schools using the Jordanian curriculum and taught in Arabic rather than Hebrew, the language of Israel. They are Israeli citizens but are not allowed to serve in the military which also includes a year of education to prepare soldiers to enter the universities. As the universities are taught in Hebrew, these Arab Israeli's have trouble being admitted to Israeli universities. There is only one unaccredited Arabic teaching university in Israel for them to attend. In addition, they are mostly Muslim with a small percentage of Christians.
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Why is it important?
Combine these two populations and Israel has 40% of its population relegated to low income jobs or living on welfare. There are 90,000 unfilled jobs in Israel but most require math and science expertise. Without access to computers and limited relevant instruction in their schools, both groups are unskilled in the areas that Israel needs. In addition, Jews who are working and paying taxes resent having to pay for the Ultra-Orthodox Jews and for Arab Israelis citizens who may not be hired when they apply for jobs. Thus education and religion are sowing discord among Conservative, Reform Jews, and the Arab Israeli's who seek employment but are suspected based upon their religion and cultural history.
Perspectives
Israel receives one third of the U.S. foreign aid as a result of the Camp David Accords. Without US economic support of 30 million a year for the past 35 years, Israel can not support itself. The cause of its economic problems is its continued financing of Ultra-Orthodox Jews and Arab-Israeli's. If the Ultra-Orthodox schools would teach social studies, math, science and economics, the graduates of their schools could become employed if they chose to do so. If the Arabic language schools were taught in Hebrew, the graduates would be able to pass admission tests to the universities and extend their education. In both cases, the quality of the education would need to be assessed for its marketplace and university admission relevance. At this time, neither of these actions are taking place and 90,000 positions remain unfilled and Arab-Israeli's are employed in low paying positions. The combination of these issues has not been presented in the media or political forums.
Dr Judith A Cochran
UMSL
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Israel: Divided by Religion and Education, Digest of Middle East Studies, March 2017, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/dome.12106.
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